


When men return from war

by sgtbaarnes (Thighz)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha Gabriel, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canonical Character Death, Consensual Somnophilia, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Jack, Reaper Gabriel, Scenting, Soldier Gabriel, Soldier Jack, Tentacle Sex, War, knoting, modern war au, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 22:36:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11194869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thighz/pseuds/sgtbaarnes
Summary: Jack leaves the battlefield without his mate.





	When men return from war

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SenkiroWolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SenkiroWolf/gifts).



> This is sad ya'll.
> 
>  _Real_ sad.
> 
>  
> 
> _Enjoy_

 

 

 

 

 

Jack will never forget the sounds, the smells, the fear. 

Each gunshot echoed in his ears, the smell of fire, brimstone. The agony in his chest as his unit dragged him away from his husbands body. Mortar fire separated him from the love of his life. His nails drew blood as he tried to escape his comrades grasp, the multiple pairs of hands pulling him back into the foxhole until the barrage stopped. 

The connection to his mate was gone. Snapped clean like the end of a fishing line. 

Jack screamed into his hands. His unit tried to comfort him with gentle strokes and soft words, but he didn’t want them. 

All he could see was Gabriel’s face. His alpha’s own fear was obvious even as he shoved Jack from the line of fire. 

Watching a bullet pierce his mates chest and the sick, slow realization across Gabriel’s face.

Jack will  _ never _ forget it. 

Even as he stands with what remains of his unit, watching the preacher make his speech at the head of the coffin. His hands tremble at parade rest behind his back, legs barely holding him up. 

There is no body in that coffin. 

There was nothing left.

Jack takes a stuttering breath, tries to stem the rush of heat behind his eyes. 

His commanding officer is standing across from him and the flag on the coffin is for Jack. He knows this, but he can’t believe it. Doesn’t want to believe it. Because believing it means that Gabriel is gone. 

Accepting that flag means-

His fingers grip each other tight as the preacher finishes his speech, one that Jack wasn’t even paying attention to. Everyone whispers their ‘amens’ and his commander steps forward with Jack’s unit. Together, the men and women fold the flag, carefully, as though it were made of glass. The process only rips Jack’s heart apart faster. 

Minutes pass before his commander steps away with the perfectly folded triangle. The grass parts under his feet as he steps around Gabriel’s grave and Jack’s throat tightens. 

His chest hitches with the onslaught of tears. He can’t stop the one that rolls down his cheek when the tall, dark-haired man pauses in front of him. 

Jack can’t look at the flag, his chin trembles as he meets his commander's eyes. They’re forlorn and knowing as he gets down on one knee and his arms stretch out before Jack. 

“ On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.” The commander's voice wavers only just. 

Jack’s hands shake as they move from behind his back to accept the flag. His fingers ache against the fabric as he tries not to rip it apart in his grasp. His commander rises slowly, salutes once and turns on his heel to fall back into line. 

The ceremony concludes and as people sniffle and the crowd disperses, Jack is the only one left. He can feel the grave diggers eyes on him from their perch near the benches. They have jobs to do, he should just go home.

His hands are numb from the cold, the flag doing nothing to warm them. November air whips at his hair and stings his cheeks. 

Snow will come with it.

“I don’t know what to say.” Jack whispers at Gabriel’s empty coffin, “I don’t-.” He inhales sharply, fingers clenching around the flag between his hands, “I don’t want to go home.” The words come out strangled.

Home means their tiny apartment in brooklyn. It means Gabriel’s rich, cocoa bean scent engraved in everything they own. The sheets, couch, clothes. It means sitting in an entire home built around their stuff, only to be downgraded into  _ Jack’s _ stuff. 

He debates staying at a hotel or with a friend again, but to delay the inevitable will only make it worse. So, he trudges on home, fall weather chilling his skin by the time his trembling fingers unlock the apartment door. 

Their mingling scents, cocoa and apples, lingers in the air. It’s stagnant, almost completely muted due to their extended tour. However, it’s still there and the omega inside of Jack howls in pain. 

He spends twenty minutes digging out their flag holders from a storage closet in the spare bedroom. Then another five carefully placing it behind the glass and setting it atop their oak entertainment center. It hurts to look at, but it’s there. He can’t deny it anymore and no matter how many times he closes his eyes, when he opens them Gabriel will still be dead. 

Jack sinks into their dark blue sofa and stares up at the flag. 

He’s home alone. There’s no unit to be strong in front of or Gabriel’s entire family to apologize to. His commander is nowhere to be seen.

He’s alone in his home and-

Jack breaks.

The tears roll out unbidden. His shoulders quake with every harsh inhale of air he tries to force into his lungs. His buries his face into his hands, leaning over his knees and listening as his own broken sobs echo in the empty apartment. 

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

 

The first week is hell. 

Jack doesn’t leave his apartment for longer than an hour and that’s just to run to the grocery store because their fridge is empty.

His. His fridge is empty. 

All of their photos are face down on shelves. He stripped the sheets the second night and threw them away. On the fourth day, he put all of Gabriel’s things inside of the storage closet. Closing that door broke something inside Jack. 

The apartment was damn near empty without Gabriel’s guitar’s, his albums, the sewing machine in the corner by the bay window. 

On the fifth night, Jack pulled everything back out and curled up on the sofa with Gabriel’s things scattered across the floor. He wrapped himself up in the throw blanket Gabriel’s mother knitted for them and watched one of his mates favorite movies. 

On the seventh, the sniper from his unit, Ana shows up with a bottle of cheap wine and a photo album. 

They sit out on the living room floor and go through army photos Ana and the unit took on all of their tours. Cups don’t even come into play as they pass the bottle back and forth, both ready and willing to get piss-ass drunk despite the fact that it’s a bad idea. 

Ana curls up around him that night, her rich coffee scent lulling him into the first decent sleep in over a week. 

“Your old job is still available to you.” She mentions over breakfast the next day, sipping at a cup of steaming tea. 

Jack looks up from his eggs. His old job consisted of teaching men and women how to transition from active to civilian duty. He pokes at the fluffy yellow peaks, swallows thickly, “I don’t know if I could even do that anymore.”

She smiles kindly, “Of course you can, Jack.” One of her hands, scared from a faulty bomb, covers the hand not holding a fork, “I’m not saying now, because you do get a sizable amount for Gabriel’s death-.”

Jack’s throat clenches, “I don’t want that money.”

“You get it anyway.” She replies, “It’s empty, but it’s not useless.” A sigh leaves her, “My point is you don’t need the money. You need the distraction.”

She’s right. 

He  _ knows _ she’s right, she’s always right. 

“I’ll think about it.” Jack mumbles.

She leaves for her own job with a kiss to his cheek and a promise of returning later the next week. He watches her climb onto her bike from his window, hand pressed to the glass. The loneliness closes in around him quickly. 

It’s nearly ten in the morning, but Jack trudges to his bedroom, shedding his clothes and climbing back into the bed. The sheets still smell like Ana, but it’s not enough for his poor starved bond to feed off of. 

And his bond was starving. 

Logically, in his head, Gabriel is dead. Gone. He could  _ feel _ when Gabe died. His biology screamed at him though, insisted that he still had a bond to nurture. It skittered under his skin and urged him on. There was no bond to nurture and he couldn’t  _ concentrate _ .

He buries his face in the pillow, lets out a hoarse shout. 

Ice runs down his spine.

Jack jerks his face up, breath taken away by the sheer  _ freeze _ along his skin. He rolls over quickly, fear high in his throat but the room is empty. The window is closed. The fan isn’t even on above him. His heart beats quickly, pounding in his ears as his eyes move wildly around the room. 

It takes him far too long to relax back into the bed, eyes still taking in the dark corners of his bedroom. He’s not crazy. That wasn’t the wind, that was cold and firm along his spinal cord. Almost like a finger.

Jack shivers and pulls the blanket up to his shoulders. 

He needs more sleep.

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

 

 

Jack gets better with every passing day. It’s only been a month, but he doesn’t feel as clogged up with emotion or quick to cry. At least, not in public. 

He takes Ana up on her offer and slips into his classroom at nine am on a tuesday morning. He sets his gym bag beside an old teacher’s desk and flips through the VA’s newest catalog. It looks pretty much the same, only with a few new additions here and there. He spots Ana’s classes near the bottom, gives a small smile. 

His class takes over two hours. There are a lot of questions and Jack doesn’t honestly know how to answer them all, but he tries. These young soldiers, fresh from overseas and ready to fold back into old lives, have no idea that their old lives are gone. No one is the same when they leave the service. 

“Even if you don’t see combat,” Jack settles against the edge of his desk, “You still go from an extraordinarily stressful environment to one that is considerably less so.” He reaches for his coffee cup, hopes it’s still warm, “The military has structure, order, expectations. The civilian world has it too, but at a less concentrated level.”

A woman raises her hand, “Is it hard to get a job?”

Jack sighs, “In most cases, yes. Some jobs love to hire military and some require degrees in that field and if you didn’t attend school during service then it’s a matter of completing that.”

A few groans and a scoff. 

The class ends an hour later. Jack closes his eyes as the last serviceman shuts the door behind them.  He lets out a strangled breath and slumps against the desk. He knew it would take a lot out of him to be here, especially with his body doing things it’s not supposed to.

There’s a familiar itch under his skin. An itch that can only mean  _ one _ thing. 

He’s going into heat less than a month after his mate died. The thought alone sends his mood south, spiraling like a corkscrew into the shitter. It doesn’t seem fair, his body moving on from Gabriel before his mind can. 

Not that Jack intends to take another. 

The thought alone is nauseating. 

He texts Ana to let her know he’ll be indisposed for a few days. She doesn’t need to ask why, no one does. 

When he gets home, the itching intensifies because even though Jack has scrubbed every surface of his apartment in bleach, he can  _ still  _ smell Gabriel. It’s probably his uber sensitive nose in the beginning stages of a heat, but it’s upsetting. 

Jack crawls into bed and wonders if he can get a few hours of sleep before the need overwhelms him. It’s already clawing at the back of his senses, screaming to get free. His legs are restless even as he gets comfortable under the blankets. 

He drifts.

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

 

 

_ He’s not a stranger to nightmares. He’s a soldier and nightmares are part of war. Jack’s lost count of how many times he’s dreamed of a botched mission or a failed operation. He still dreams of other things, bridges and owls. _

_ The black smoke is new.  _

_ It floats around Jack’s body, coating the ground and then coming up to mid-thigh. He doesn’t feet afraid, just-curious. His fingers curl through the smoke and it runs between them like vapor, it’s cold. _

_ Cold. _

_ Awareness prickles on the back of his neck. _

_ Freezing. Like ice-like- _

_ “Jack.” _

_ Jack twists around at his name. The voice is raw, rough, coarse like sand. He can’t see anyone, just black fog and an endless landscape of muted colors. It looks like the sky right as the sun sets at the horizon line.  _

_ “Who are you?” Jack snaps, whirling around.  _

_ A low laugh, cool fingers wrap around his biceps from behind. Jack freezes in place, throat tight as he casts his gaze down to his bare arms. The fingers are dark and bleeding the smoke at his feet. The hand is strong, firm in it’s grip, but they soften immediately and drag down to flutter at Jack’s elbows and down to his wrists.  _

_ “Mi sol, look at you.” _

_ Jack lets out a strangled sob, knees wobbling at the words. He tries to turn but the grip tightens around his wrists. _

_ “No.” A sharp swallow, “You can’t see me like this.” _

_ Jack whines, “I have to. Please-.” _

_ “No.”  _

_ It’s Gabriel. _

_ Jack’s dreaming of  _ **_Gabriel_ ** _. _

_ It’s the first time since he returned home.  _

_ “Why now?” Jack whispers, “It’s been months. Why am I dreaming about you now?” _

_ Cool lips press against the base of his neck, right here his fading mark rests. In a year, the mark will be gone. Gone like Gabriel- _

_ “These things take time.” A tongue darts out to taste his skin, “I have missed you.”  _

_ “You don’t sound the same.” Jack mutters, tipping his neck to the side and embracing the sharp bolt of lust. His body responds to the thought of his mate and welcomes dream-Gabriel like a long lost friend.  _

_ “I’m not the same.” Gabriel replies. His mouth catches Jack’s ear, “Will you let me help you through this, carino?” _

_ Jack shivers, presses back, but there’s almost nothing there. Just a pressure of mist pushing back at him.  _

_ The fingers at his wrists move to grasp at his hips. He’s curiously naked in this dream, did he go to bed like this? He can’t remember. He can’t think beyond the fire racing through his body and pooling between his legs. His heat curls and whips at him from the inside, yearning for the man behind him.  _

_ “Please.” Jack knows he can’t go through his heat alone. Whatever this version of Gabriel is will give him no relief, only memories and sadness when he wakes in a mess of himself.  _

_ Sharp teeth dig into the flesh at his neck, piercing it clean and sending Jack’s back into an arc. He cries out at the feeling, arousal flooding his senses and hole oozing slick in response. One of his hands reaches back to grip at something, anything of Gabriel and meets thick fabric and half-formed flesh.  _

_ The teeth pull out, tongue licking up whatever blood leaks from the wound. A growl permeates the air around him and the smoke practically vibrates around his legs. Jack shivers at the sound and his instincts roar at the prospect of an orgasm from his mate. _

_ His  _ **_mate._ **

_ Just a dream- _

_ Jack shouts as something wraps around his thighs, pulling his feet further apart. Gabriel hands are on his hips still, thumbs caressing the skin. Jack looks down and his insides quake at the sight of thick smoke holding him open, tight and firm around the skin of his thighs. He inhales sharply and obliges the smoke as they continue to tug at him until he can feel cool air against his steadily leaking hole.  _

_ Gabriel noses at Jack’s hairline, obviously taking in Jack’s scent, “I missed how you smelt. Apples and winter air.” A low vibration rumbles at Jack’s back, “I wish I could taste you.” _

_ What’s stopping you? Jack wants to ask, but this is a dream and it would be useless.  _

_ Jack can feel the smoke undulating around his legs, slicking up his inner thigh and hovering right where Jack needs it most. His cock is throbbing between his legs, almost forgotten in the haste to have something inside of him as quickly as possible. The smoke curls around it easily and Jack’s shout is hoarse and agonized. Pleasure skitters up his spine and his hole drips lewdly down the back of his legs.  _

_ The smoke catches it, smears it into the flesh and pushes easily into Jack’s hole.  _

_ He nearly screams at the feeling. It’s firm and yielding, not at all like the one wrapped around his dick. It moves inside of him with a controlled sense of urgency. Gabriel huffs against Jack’s shoulder, fingers digging into the skin of Jack’s sides. _

_ “You’re so wet for me.” He murmurs in wonder, mouthing kisses along Jack’s flesh, “I thought you wouldn’t-.” _

_ “Never.” Jack insists, hips pushing into the smokes thrusts, dick pulsing as it hits his prostate. He shakes his head with the pleasure, warm and gooey in his stomach. “Only yours.” The words are broken as he forces them out through the sensations.  _

_ Gabriel’s fingers curl tighter, the smoke squeezes and strokes at his dick, picking up the pace. He thrusts into him, slick splattering against the imaginary floor lewdly. It only ramps him higher, knees shaking as his body prepares to take a knot that isn’t there.  _

_ Jack cries out for it, knows he can’t have it.  _

_ “I love you.” Gabriel whispers. _

_ That’s all it takes. Jack screams through the orgasm, body angry at the denial of a knot, but his heart lighting up. His shakes through it, eyes closed and head tipped back, mouth open. Gabriel is more solid behind him now, pressing cold kisses to Jack’s cheek.  _

_ “Easy, Jackie.” Gabriel chuckles and that is familiar. _

_ The sound, rougher than it used to be, clenches around Jack’s heart like a vice.  _

_ He fights the urge to cry, hates that his hormones are stirring this up in him.  _

_ It’s just a dream. _

_ “I need to see you.” Jack whispers urgently, tries to spin around, “Please-.” _

_ “No.” Gabriel snaps, “Jack  _ **_no-_ ** _.” _

_ Jack twists to face him and- _

He snaps awake, face down in his pillow, body thrumming. His chest is heaving and his heart is pounding as he pushes himself up to his elbows. He knows instantly that his clothes are shed, legs bare and fan spinning wildly above him. Cool air brushes his overheated skin and Jack can  _ feel _ the slick between his legs. 

His body is sore.

His  _ hole _ is sore. 

His neck is throbbing where his mating mark is scarred into his skin. 

Jack swallows thickly, eyes wide as he dares to turn to face the room. 

It’s empty.

It’s  _ empty, _ but-

Jack falls back into the bed.

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

 

The second day of his heat is miserable. He vomits up breakfast, can’t keep water down. His body itches and his head is throbbing. Jack ignores Ana’s texts insisting that he let her help in through it. 

Jack curls up in his bed instead and moans. His body tears itself in multiple directions, wanting sex and sleep and sickness all in quick succession. His belly aches and his hole is leaking profusely into the fabric of his sweatpants. 

The rumors of a first heat after the death of a mate did not lie. It is agony and Jack hates every moment of it. His body misses Gabriel.

No toys sooth him.

No food or drink quenches his lingering appetite. 

He wonders faintly if he’s going to die like this. Desperate in heat and aching from a broken heart and a severed bond. 

Jack sniffles into the pillow, clenches his eyes shut against the onslaught of another wave of heat. His room reeks of cinnamon and apples, it’s almost nauseating without the accompanying smell of his mate. 

_ Jack _ misses Gabriel.

Jack thinks of the dream. The dream that wasn’t a dream. 

Or was it?

He can’t tell anymore.

His vision wavers as he blinks wet eyes open. There’s a glass of water on his bedside table and his throat is dry and scratchy. He needs to reach for it-

There’s a blurry black figure next to his bed when he opens his eyes. His fingers slip on the condensation dripping down the sides of the glass. A smoking hand wraps around the clear crystal, brushing against Jack’s skin and sending his senses skittering. Another hand presses at the base of Jack’s skull, tilting his head up and setting the rim of the glass against Jack’s lips. 

He sips slowly, eyes wet with heat and salty tears. He can barely make out the person hovering in front of him. So controlled for being in direct contact with an omega in heat. 

Soft spanish words fill the air, admonishing him in a tone Jack is all too familiar with. However, that isn’t his mates voice. Not really. 

It’s the Gabriel from Jack’s dream.

Is he dreaming  _ again _ ?

“Would you like me to help you through this, Jack?” 

Jack’s brain is fuzzy, but he would recognize that question anywhere. Gabriel asked it before every heat. Ten years together, seven of them mated and Gabriel would  _ always  _ ask when Jack’s body went into estrus. 

His heart leaps into his throat, fear and sadness snuff it out in quick measure, “You’re not real.”

“No.” Gabriel agrees, “Not really.”

Jack can’t see his face.

Jack can’t see his face and it makes the tears run hotter from his eyes down into his hairline. His hands reach up blindly and fingers meet the face hovering above him. He can feel the smoke leaking from there too, hollow dips and sharp cracks in skin. The smoke is cold and it curls around Jack’s fingers and down his arms as if saying hello. The feeling sends shivers down Jack’s spine.

“Why are you here?” Jack croaks.

“I couldn’t leave you alone like this.” Gabriel admits, his voice unfamiliar and grating, “And I can’t-.” Hesitation, the fingers at Jack’s neck tighten, “I shouldn’t be here.”

Jack wants to turn away from him. Curl onto his side and break down in the silence of his bedroom. 

His body screams at him for his mate.

His fingers curl into the skin of Gabriel’s ruined face, “ _ Please. _ ”

Cold lips meet his in a rough press. Jack surges into it, the smell of melted chocolate and cedar oozing into the air. His insides purr at the scent and the omega in him inhales the familiar mix of smells. Gabriel’s kisses are slow and sensual, as they always were even during his ruts. His fingers are patient as he strips Jack of his sweatpants, shoves his shirt up to his armpits. 

Jack pulls back for air, but yanks that mouth back against him. His eyes still burn, but the vision is clearing slowly. He doesn’t want to open them, however. It means facing the reality that Gabriel may not even be-

“Look at me.” Gabriel pulls back, nips at Jack’s bottom lip.

“You told me not to.” Jack shakes his head, fingers digging into the shorn hair at Gabriel’s neck, “You told me-.”

“You deserve to see what I am.” Gabriel murmurs, “Before you allow me inside of you again.”

Jack opens his eyes slowly, so slowly and his heart soars at the sight. 

Gabriel is wearing a wry smile, almost self-deprecating instead of his usual cocky grin. His face is ruined and leaking black vapor, but the handsome lines are still there. Jack’s fingers tremble as he runs the tips over Gabriel’s eyes, nose, mouth.

“It’s you.” Jack whispers reverently.

“Barely.” Gabriel croaks, “Just enough to be with you for a short time.”

Agony spears him, “Where will you go?” He can’t lose Gabriel again-

Gabriel’s cool fingers brush away the half-dried tears on Jack’s face, “I can’t tell you that, just know that I’ll wait for you Jack. However long it takes. I’ll be waiting for you.”

He takes Jack’s mouth in another kiss before Jack can get a protest out. His body sings at the contact as Gabriel’s misting body climbs between Jack’s legs. 

The muted heat now rushes back so quickly, Jack’s head spins with desire. His hands scramble for purchase at Gabriel’s now bare shoulders. His mate continues to kiss him, spreading his thighs with the smoke once more. 

His cock bounces against his stomach, leaking pools of pre-cum into his belly button. The pleasure is potent and only increases tenfold when he feels Gabriel’s own dick pressing against his hole. 

The tip slips in the slick Jack’s body leaks, missing Jack completely. Gabriel growls in frustration, pulling away from Jack’s mouth and staring between their legs.

“You are  _ dripping  _ for me.” He snarls, eyes wild and smoking chest heaving.

Jack lets out a rough laugh, “Want a taste?” 

Gabriel hisses in pleasure, body gliding like water down Jack’s front and smoke pulling Jack’s legs  up and apart. He watches Gabriel burry in face between Jack’s cheeks, mouth and tongue eager as he sloppily eats Jack out.

Jack’s fingers tear into the sheets, back arching sharply and a low groan erupting from his chest. Gabriel continues to clean Jack’s ass of his slick, moaning hungrily and fingers digging into the flesh of Jack’s ankles. The smoke at his thighs caress the skin lovingly, completely at war with Gabriel’s hungry snuffles between Jack’s cheeks.

“Gabe- _ Gabe- _ .” Jack cries out, moving a hand down to yank at Gabriel’s head, “I need you- _ now _ .” 

Watching Gabriel emerge from between his legs, beard wet with Jack’s slick sends his heat spiraling skyward. His nails claw into smoking skin as Gabriel slides back up, body puffing vapor black as ink over Jack’s skin. 

Goosebumps blossom over Jack’s flesh and his mouth drops open with a sharp hiss as Gabriel enters him. 

“ _ Yes _ .” Jack groans, tossing his head to the side. Gabe’s cock stretches him wide, the size familiar and foreign all at once. It burns in the best way and Jack shoves back against it with a growl, “ _ Fuck me. _ ”

Gabriel’s growl is the only reply before he starts thrusting. His hips are solid and firm with every strike against Jack’s ass. Jack’s body burns with the heat inside of him, slick licking out around Gabriel’s dick and his own cock spraying copious amounts of come onto his chest. 

His body clenches and unclenches with orgasm. He rides through three of them before Gabriel strikes his neck again, mating mark burning with the bond. 

Jack shouts at the ceiling, arms curling around Gabriel’s back as he feels the base of his knot pushing past Jack’s hole. 

Gabriel’s orgasm lasts for a long while, hips digging into Jack’s ass and warm come flooding his insides. Jack’s body welcomes it eagerly, basking in the afterglow and warming with the renewed bond. 

His mate drops down in a plume of smoke, nearly disappearing in the aftermath. Jack swallows in fear, fingers slipping through vapor.

“Gabe-.”

“Normal.” Gabriel grunts, pulling himself over Jack, body barely formed, “Sorry-.”

“No.” Jack shakes his head, heart worn and broken and happy, “Just-what are you?”

Gabriel looks away, “I can’t tell you that.” He glances back at Jack, “I shouldn’t even be here and yet-.” The backs of his fingers brush Jack’s cheek, “I find it hard to live without you, even after I’m dead.”

Jack lets out a sob, closes his eyes against the feeling, “Will you come back?”

“Not as often as you’d like.” Gabriel murmurs, “But know this: I will wait for you, Jack. I’ll wait forever if I have to.”

“Until what?” Jack asks.

“Death.” Gabriel whispers against his lips, “I wait for you in death.”

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack watches as Gabriel slips out through his window in the early morning. The smoke seeps out into the first snowfall of the year. 

Jack stays on his side in the bed, body pleasantly used and neck throbbing. His eyes don’t move from the window for hours, watching the snow flutter past the glass. He misses Gabriel already, isn’t sure what to make of their circumstances now.

Three days ago he was a widower, broken and prepared to float through life empty and hollow. Now- _ now- _

Jack grins and nuzzles his face into the pillow Gabriel coated with his own scent. He purrs at the smell, body tingling with the knowledge that Gabriel is out there somewhere waiting for him. 

“Most likely a Reaper.” Ana mumbles much later as she disinfects the scabbing wound at Jack’s neck. 

Jack frowns, “A what?” he twists his head to look at her. 

She shoves a strand of dark hair out of her face, “My mother used to tell me stories of the reapers. They escort people into the afterlife. They are considered a completely neutral part of the cycle of life.” 

“What creates them?” Jack asks.

Ana hums, “Most are created when a human dies in chaotic circumstances.” Her eyes meet his, “Or when a bond between two people is so strong, even the neutrality of death himself can not stop it.” 

Jack hides the grin on his face as he turns back to face his couch, allowing Ana to continue her medical attention. His heart pounds in his chest and he wants desperately to see Gabriel. Knows it’s not possible right now.

He can wait though.

Jack lets out a slow sigh, closes his eyes. 

A  _ bond _ so strong.

_ I find it hard to live without you, even after I’m dead. _

Jack smiles.

 

End

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank [Senkirowolf](http://senkirowolf.tumblr.com/) for this awesome idea. I have been putting off a small reaperson fic and they were happy to ask for it!
> 
>  
> 
> That funeral scene was really hard to write, I'll be perfectly honest. I did a lot of crying.
> 
> But hey! Give it up to my awesome partner for making sure I wrote the flag ceremony properly. (Even though I cried while we watched videos of it)
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos, support and comments!


End file.
